Different But Innocent
by cloclomockingjay
Summary: Michael, Shane and Eve are ordered along with several town vampires to kill a supposed werewolf who they soon discover to be a scared, young girl. Will they follow orders or choose to save her life?
1. Chapter 1

Michael was sat on the couch with Eve curled up beside him as he messed around with his guitar. He didn't play anything in particular as his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't help that feel that something was going on, something that was possibly dangerous to him and of course his friends. No one was telling him anything even though he was a vampire and in the loop. But he did notice what was getting the council slightly worked up. Vampires were being attacked. That's all there was to it. Almost every night for over a week vampires had shown up at Founder's square with more than their fair share of battle wounds. But all were alive. Not one had been found dead though some of the fresh ripping scratches and deep cuts that Michael had seen made it clear that whatever had attacked them was more than capable of murder. Another thing was the wounds themselves- they couldn't be blamed on rebels as there were no bullets or stakes just bone crushing sucker punches and animalistic scratches that made the shape of claws. That was all Michael knew and that's what worried him. His question was when would whatever's doing this decide to make a fatal blow or even worse move onto humans?

What he didn't realise was how soon his knowledge on this subject would grow.

Michael put his guitar down after a moment and headed to the kitchen as he felt the beginning of the dull burn in his throat. In the kitchen he found Shane who was picking through a cupboard for a snack. Shane nodded in acknowledgement. "Hey bro."

"Hey." Michael replied as he headed to the fridge and grabbed one of his sports bottles.

Shane kept talking but turned away as he did so he wouldn't be able to see what Michael was drinking. "Something on your mind?"

Once Michael was done drinking he put the bottle down and wiped his face before replying. "What? No why?"

"You have your thinking face on. Is it about these vamp attacks?"

"How do you know about that?"

Shane shrugged. "Small town."

"Well yeah, I do keep thinking about that."

"Not surprised, from what I heard those attacks are pretty badass but to be honest it just sounds like a vamp gone haywire to me."

Michael shook his head. "It can't be. Amelie would know who it was and deal with it and the attacks just look kind of- I don't know- desperate."

Shane grabbed a coke and started towards the door to the living room. "Whatever you say, bro."

Right at that moment the phone rang and Michael walked over to where Eve had dumped it on the side to answer it. "Hello?"

"Michael. I require you to come to Founder's Square immediately." This of course was Amelie.

Michael could tell from her voice that whatever she wanted him for it was really important and could not wait. He had a feeling he knew what this was about. "Is this about those attacks that nobody has told me about?"

He heard Amelie sigh and the other end. "Yes it is. I require you to help put an end to it."

"By put an end to it you mean kill it."

"Most likely yes. Also bring your two human friends with you. I would appreciate all the help we can get."

"Ok, I- We'll be there as soon as possible. Bye."

The line then went dead.

Michael put the phone down and ran a hand through his hair. _Shane and Eve aren't going to like this._ He thought to himself. Finally he went back to the living room where Eve was still sat along with Shane. He stood behind Eve as he said. "Sorry guys but Amelie wants us all to go to Founder's Square to help deal with whoever attacking the vampires."

"No fair!" Shane complained. "Why do we have to deal with their problems? It's not our fault someone finally decided to give them an ass kicking."

"No but I'm sure Amelie could blame it on you if she wanted to so I would just go and get it over with." Eve pointed out as she got to her feet and went to grab Michael's car keys. "So lets just cut the crap." She threw Michael his keys. "Mikey you're driving. Now lets go."

Both Michael and Shane looked at her for a moment before shrugging and following Eve to the front door. It was still slightly daylight outside so there was no military operation needed when getting in the car. The sun was about fifteen minutes away from setting and as they drove they could see some vampires standing in the shadows of alleyways. Whether they were just waiting for the sun to completely go down or looking out for whatever it was that was beating them to a pulp was unclear.

Once at Founder's Square they jumped out of the car and headed for the building that held Amelie's office. They were surprised to found the ice queen herself waiting for them at the reception. "Well this must be serious." Shane commented half to himself which earned him a glare from Amelie.

"It is as a matter of fact. Now follow me."

Amelie lead them down a long hall lined with doors that had no indication of what lay on the other side. She stopped at the second to last door on the left and pushed it open. Inside were around seven vampires stood around a large wooden table that had a pile of what looked like weapons on it. Though the weapons intrigued Shane he still felt wary and uncomfortable in a room full of people who potentially wanted to drink his blood. Still, he kept his discomfort to himself and walked in. Once the door had closed behind them Amelie turned and spoke. "I'm sure you all know at least vaguely why you are here."

The vampires nodded.

"Although I feel that is all you need to know I'm sure some of you-" She turned her head to look at Michael, Shane and Eve. "-will want to know more of what is going on. So I will tell you what I believe to be correct though it is I must admit very little."

Amelie turned her gaze to everyone in the room. "As you all know there have been several attacks against on our kind. None of which can be pointed towards a human or vampire. So it appears with have something else within our town borders, something new."

"But what exactly is this something?" Eve asked.

"We believe- but this is just by the reports of the victims- that this creature is a werewolf."

There was silence for a few seconds before Shane said in a voice that made it clear he thought it was some kind of joke. "A werewolf?"

"Yes Mr Collins, a werewolf. Werewolf, Lycan, Shape shifter- give it whatever name you wish as either way it has proven itself as very dangerous."

Shane still didn't believe it. "Are- are you serious?"

Amelie gave him a cold look. "I am very serious and whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. This problem must be dealt with immediately and I have assigned you to do it."

One of the vampires next to the table spoke up. "Pardon me ma'am but I am unfamiliar with this particular... creature. How do we deal with exactly?"

"That is a very good question. Werewolves are not completely unheard of but they are extremely rare and though they are not of before my time I have never encountered one myself. However we do have written information about them, though it is very little it is also significant."

Amelie walked over to the table and picked up what looked like a dart gun. "The information we searched told us that like vampires these creatures are unaffected by weapons that contain regular ammunition. Nor does a stake to the heart hurt them either. However they have too great weaknesses, one of which they share with us. That of course is silver." She said it as if she'd known all along even though she had made clear before she didn't know anything about werewolves.

"And the other weakness?" Michael asked.

Amelie put the dart gun down and picked up a purple flower. "This."

"What the hell are we going to do with that?" Shane almost snorted.

"_This _is aconitum." Amelie said as she turned it between her fingers. "Also known as wolf's bane. It is believed to be poisonous to them, considerably more than silver is. We have both available as bullets and liquidised dart shots. One shot of this will not kill the creature but injure it enough to slow it down. If it is shot several more times or severely injured before given a chance to heal it will die."

"Or if you get close enough take the damn things head off." One of the vampires growled.

Amelie gave him a look that told him to be quiet before saying. "Take at least one weapon, advisably one that uses wolf's bane then follow me."

Shane grabbed of course a shotgun that contained silver buckshot simply because he thought shotguns were the coolest while Michael and Eve both grabbed dart guns containing liquid wolf's bane and vials silver nitrate. Once they were ready they followed Amelie back down the hall, into the reception and out into the now dark streets of Morganville.

**So, what do you think? Please review. Thanks. **


	2. Chapter 2

For a while the group just followed Amelie along the streets of Morganville on what looked like a randomly chosen route and Shane and Eve were wondering what the hell they were doing. After about twenty minutes Shane nudged Michael and asked quietly. "What the hell are we doing? Going for a night stroll?"

"They're tracking." Michael turned his eyes towards the vampires in front. "This werewolf or whatever has a distinct smell, nothing like a human or vampire. I couldn't smell it before but now I've come across it it's easy to tell apart from everything else."

"By distinct do you mean gross?"

Amelie turned her head slightly to the side. "A werewolf's scent isn't unpleasant exactly just very... strong. I suppose you could count that as another weakness they have since it makes them easy to track down."

Shane nodded his head at her answer. He didn't really care to be honest though because either way he was still getting bored and creeped out by the vampires he caught lurking in the shadows every so often. Shane stayed beside Eve most of the time as it made him feel more comfortable as the walk continued to be uneventful for a long while- the whole time Shane kept his shotgun raised while secretly pretending in his mind he was in one of his zombie games.

Soon they came toward a street that split into two roads that moved away from each other. As they came to the turning Amelie held a hand up indicating for them to stop. One of the vampires moved to stand beside her. "Which way now ma'am?"

"I'm not sure. For some strange reason the scent fades here, there's no indication of which way the creature is. Perhaps we are very unlucky or this werewolf is very smart."

"So what shall we do?"

Amelie paused for a second before turning to look at them all. "We must part here, that way we have more chance of catching this thing." She pointed to the vampire beside her and three others. "You four shall come with me." She then pointed to the remaining three. "And you shall join Michael and his human companions."

The vampires nodded and the group began to split and head in each direction. Amelie then stopped. "And be careful, especially you humans. There are many myths of what a bite from this thing will do to you and I have no knowledge on what is true."

Shane and Eve had never thought about that until Amelie mentioned it but since they lived in Morganville and were used to unpleasant possibilities it didn't discourage or scare them too much so they both just nodded calmly.

Michael, Shane, Eve and the three vampires had taken the left turn which headed into a more rundown area of Morganville. The streets there had dodgy shared apartments and shops that either hadn't been opened for years or just shouldn't be open. It was the sort of place you most expected to be murdered, particularly when walking past one of the narrow alleys that were darkened by the less convenient lack of street lamps nearby; had graffiti that Eve suspected to be painted with blood covering just about every brick and had the distinctive smell of cat piss as you walked by that was impossible to go unnoticed. It was unlucky to be born in Morganville but it was even more of a misfortune to come from this neighbourhood. But most likely those who stuck around didn't live long enough to wallow about it anyway.

The further into the street they got the closer Eve got to Michael's side. When the one working street lamp began to flicker Eve whispered as she raised her dart gun. "Ok, either Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger is going to jump out from behind a bin or something. How do people live in this part of town?"

"How do people live in this town at all?" Shane commented causing one of the vampires in front to narrow their eyes at him and another to chuckle lightly. "Glad I amuse you. But seriously this is stupid, we've been walking around for almost an hour and nothings happened. It might not even be here."

"Maybe you're right but Amelie isn't going to let us go until we find out."

Shane started mumbling to himself, mostly about how he always had to deal with vampire issues and doesn't even get paid for it. He was also about to add a line of profanities at the end as well but was suddenly hushed by Michael. Shane looked towards him and noticed he had his head tilted to the side and had a look of concentration on his face as if he was listening for something. Shane also noticed that the other three vampires had fallen silent too. All of their bodies stiffened.

Eve put a hand on Michael's arm and whispered. "What is it? What wrong?"

At that moment Michael lifted his head to stare towards a pitch black alley with slightly widened eyes. "It's here." Eve followed his line of sight and for a second thought she saw a pair of yellow eyes looking out at them from the darkness but that quickly disappeared as a dark shadow lunged from the narrow passage at one of the vampires in front.

In all honesty Michael, Shane and Eve weren't quite sure what to expect but they had all at least imagined finding a huge vicious dog that wanted to shred them. So they were surprised in the end because even though the supposed werewolf moved incredibly fast the shape they managed to see was without a doubt human. But just like a vampire it only looked like a human, it certainly didn't act like one. It was far too fast for one thing, not quite as fast as a vampire but the way it twisted and leaped through the air like some kind of extreme free runner gave the illusion it was.

As it leaped at the first vampire it leaned back in the air and hit the vamp square in the chest with its feet before propelling back, hitting the concrete with its back and bouncing to its feet like it was the simplest move ever. Eve's mouth hung open. "That's not a werewolf that's freaking catwomen!"

But there was no time to argue because it was clear why this thing- or he or she- was able to kick a vampire's ass. Its agility was unbelievable, the way it manoeuvred between its attackers and leapt through the air like it was stable ground- it could almost be described as beautiful. As the vampire it attacked was getting back to it's feet the other two were trying to corner the not so wolf like werewolf. But when one lunged forward it simply dived to the side and rolled to its feet... towards Michael, Shane and Eve.

Michael pushed Shane and Eve behind him as the wolf turned towards them. It made a brief step forward them faulted in confusion- tilting its head to the side as Michael starred back. What he didn't know was that it was wondering why he didn't attack.

Shane and Eve couldn't see it clearly due to the darkness but because Michael had vampire vision he could. And what he couldn't do was call the creature in front of him an _it _anymore but a she- as he saw his supposed enemy clearly. His eyes were wide at the thought that he was meant to kill her. They stared at each other for a moment until Michael heard the familiar click of a gun being loaded. Just behind the girl he saw one of the vampires aiming a shotgun. He gasped in horror. "No wait!"

But it was too late, the shot sounded and the girl yelped in pain as the wolf's bane bullet imbedded in her back. She dropped to her knees briefly but when she saw the vampire approaching to finish her off she forced herself to her feet and fled into the alley. Michael didn't waste time, he shoved the vampire aside and ran after her with Shane and Eve behind him. "Michael, what are you doing?" Shane yelled.

"It's a kid. It's just a kid!" He shouted back as he followed the trail of blood while dodging bags of rubbish and cardboard boxes.

Shane and Eve soon saw the dead end of the alley that was a high brick wall, in front of it they could see the outline of a figure crouching. When they reached the end and stopped in front of the figure it looked up and through the thick darkness all Shane could see was its strange yellow eyes looking back. So he could see better he pulled out his phone and turned the flash of his camera on before turning it towards whatever was crouching in front of him. He and Eve were shocked to find that Michael was right. What they expected to be some vicious, four legged monster turned out to be a young girl, probably no older than seventeen.


	3. Chapter 3

Mostly the girl looked completely human, except of course her eyes, the sharp canines and intimidating claws protruding from her fingers.

She was growling from the back of her throat at them but it was obvious it was just to tell them to leave her alone. There reluctance to attack her clearly caused her confusion but it also made her feel slightly calmer. It was probably because of this that she suddenly retracted her teeth and claws and her eyes changed to a hazel brown. As Michael took a small step forward he noticed she was trying to press her hand to the wound in her back and gasp in breath. She looked desperately at Michael. "Please- I didn't mean to hurt them."

Michael looked at her doubtfully. "You've been randomly attacking vampires all week."

She shook her head. "No. They attacked me first I swear. I was just trying to defend myself."

"We didn't attack you first." Eve pointed out.

"No, but you were supposed to. Why else would you be walking around at night with guns... and wolf's bane?"

Eve was fairly happy with her answer. "Good point."

The other three vampires had followed and were now stood behind them with angry looks on their faces. "This is all lies. The others told Amelie that they were viciously attacked. They have no reason to lie."

"They also told Amelie that they were attacked by some kind of monster and she doesn't look like one to me!" Michael suddenly yelled. He'd been knelt down looking at the girl as if trying to decide for himself whether he thought she was telling the truth or not and it seemed now he had decided. "They had every reason to lie. If there is one thing I know it's that vampires have way too much pride. Too much to admit that they got their ass kicked by a teenage girl."

Shane soon realised what Michael meant and said to the girl as he bent down. "They thought you were human didn't they? Thought you were a midnight snack and when you fought back they didn't want to admit what really happened."The girl just nodded as Shane turned his head slightly to the vampires behind him. "Lower your weapons, no ones killing her now."

Before tucking his shotgun under his arm Shane stood before offering the girl a hand up. She just stared at him for a moment- deciding whether she should trust him or not- before reluctantly accepting his help. They all thought that was it, that everything was sorted. So when they heard one of the vampires growl nastily before lifting its weapon no one was ready. "That _thing_ must be killed!" It said as its finger squeezed the trigger. Its target was almost blocked since Michael, Shane and Eve were in the way but the vampire had centuries of experience with weapons and had extremely good aim.

The dart that it fired- filled with an almost lethal dose of wolf's bane-whistled past Eve's ear and hit the wolf in the shoulder and injected its content into her vein. A whimper escaped her lips and she fell back into the wall. Eve and Michael jumped forward and caught her by her arms as Shane spun on his heel and aimed his shotgun at the vampires who still stood there. "I said lower your weapons and fuck off! You're not killing her!"

They didn't move so he made it clear he meant business by moving forward and aiming the barrel directly at one of the vampire's head. "I'm mean it, get lost." They hesitated for a second, unsure what to do since it was obvious that Shane wasn't bluffing, he would shoot. Finally, they hissed before turning their backs and disappearing into the shadows but not before one threatened. "Just wait till Amelie here's about this."

He waited for a second, making sure they definitely left and didn't come back before turning around. The girl was now sat on the floor with her back against the wall. The wolf's bane had already taken affect and she looked a mess. She could barely keep her eyes open and definitely couldn't focus them on anything anymore. The skin around where the dart was imbedded had turned a horrible almost translucent grey and the veins beneath were black. Eve turned her head to look at Michael. "If we don't do anything she's going to die." She said before waiting to see if he had any idea of what could be done to help.

He didn't reply for a while as he searched his brain for the best possible solution. Finally, he sighed and shook his head. "We have to take her to Amelie. The hospital won't be able to help her."

"But she'll kill her."

"Not if we explain everything. We have to try."

Eve looked uncertain for a moment but she knew he was right and in the end agreed before grabbing Michael's weapons so he could carry the girl who was by then falling unconscious. "Shane, if anything comes at us shoot it."

"Gotcha."

Once the girl was in Michael's arms they all ran from the alley and headed to Founder's square. Along the way they suspected the vamps would try and attack them so they were quite surprise to find that none of them even moved from the shadows. It took fifteen minutes to get to the square and at the bottom of the steps of the council building they stopped to take a deep breath to prepare themselves for whatever would happen inside.

Apparently Amelie had already been informed of what they'd done and was waiting for them inside with a furious look on her face. When she saw the girl her expression changed to almost disgust until she looked back at Michael and the fury reappeared. "I told you to kill that thing not protect it."

"We're not going to kill something that doesn't need to be killed."

"It does need to be killed. It's vicious and dangerous and will attack us without reason. That's its nature!" Amelie took a step closer.

"You said it yourself you've never seen her kind before, all you know is what came out of some dusty old books. There was nothing vicious in her when we saw her out there and when she saw I wasn't trying to hurt her she didn't attack me, that's proof she doesn't act on any instinct."

"My vampires were attacked, unprovoked as I'm aware." Again she moved closer.

Shane stepped in front of Michael so he was blocking the girl from view. "They are liars! Look at her! She doesn't turn into some monster like your vampires claim." He waved his arms at the girl. "What you see is what you get."

This seemed to confuse Amelie. She turned around and called someone's name and a second later a vampire appeared at her side. "William."

"Yes ma'am?" He said as he bowed slightly beside her.

"When you came to me to report your attack you told me that you were attacked by some kind of beast, almost like a mutated canine yes?"

"Yes ma'am." The vampire looked very certain of what he was saying.

"So tell me." Amelie motioned for Shane to step aside and reluctantly he did. The vampire saw the girl in Michael's arms and his face dropped into a blank stare. "Is this not the creature that attacked you?"

"I- I- I'm not sure." The look on his face made it obvious he was lying. It had the word BUSTED written all over it.

"Tell me the truth William." Amelie's voice was assertive."

William bowed his head. "Yes."

"And who was the one to attack first?"

"I was."

Amelie's eyes narrowed as she turned- staring him down. "You Sir William, let your pride misguide you. As I am sure have the rest of those who have made such claims. However I do not have time to deal with such pettiness but warn the others their lies will not go unnoticed. Now go, I have much more important things to do."

William fled, looking both embarrassed and afraid. Amelie turned back towards Michael. "It seems your claims are correct. This is not as I thought it was."

"So will you help her?"

"I will, with caution of course. I will not end her life for reasons that were conjured from either lies and books but she still must prove to me that she is of no harm to my people." For a moment Amelie watched them calmly then turned towards a hallway. "Come with me. I know someone who can help her."

She led them down a maze of identical hallways before stepping at a small storage cupboard. Eve and Shane looked confused by this but as the door opened a portal appeared near the doorway. They stepped through after Amelie and found themselves on the other side walking into what looked like a lab. Or at least a trashed up lab littered with strange machinery and vials of unknown chemicals. Behind a desk stood a vampire with dark curled hair. "Myrnin." Amelie called.

He looked up from whatever he was working on "Yes my dear?"

"I require your help." She gestured towards the girl and Myrnin's eyes lit up.

"Ah is that the so called vicious monster that has been causing havoc on our streets? I thought you were going to kill her?"

"It has been brought to my attention that that isn't necessary. Our knowledge stands slightly incorrect."

Myrnin smirked. "I told you those books were absolute rubbish. Written by complete morons I told you."


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I haven't updated in ages, I've had laptop trouble then internet trouble then other trouble in general. And I'm working on all my other stories you've been asking about so don't worry. **

Myrnin turned on his heels and rushed to the back of the lab while gesturing for them to follow. He came to a stop behind a table covered in books and looked at the clutter on it in annoyance. The reason for the lab being so messy soon became clear as he moved his arms to one side of the table and swept the books onto the floor. "Lay her down on here." He said to Michael who quickly laid the girl on the table and stepped back. "Now what is the problem here?" Myrnin quickly examined the unconscious girl and easily found the wounds. "Ah."

"Is it bad?" Shane asked.

"Well of course it's bad." Myrnin replied incredulously. "She wouldn't be unconscious if it wasn't now would she. Honestly boy, such a silly question."

Shane just stared at him.

Amelie moved forward now till she was standing on the opposite side of the table from Myrnin. "But can you save her Myrnin?"

"Well the bullet wound is simple enough to deal with and she's certainly strong enough to handle it but the wolf's bane injection is tricky. She has the strongest of poisons running directly through her veins. I suppose you could compare it to a bite from an extremely venomous snake." Myrnin answered without looking away from the girls shoulder. He stared for a second- trying to decide what to do- before finally nodding. "I believe there is something I can do but we don't have much time and I will need some help."

As Shane, Michael and Eve shuffled forward slightly Myrnin dashed away and began to flit around the room grabbing different equipment. On the girls shoulder they could see the blackened veins slowly spreading down her arm and along her shoulder as the poison spread. Myrnin finally came back, he was shaking his head and muttering to himself. "If only the dart had hit lower down her arm, it would have been so much easier to just amputate it. Then again I suppose a werewolf with one arm would be quite sad."

The evidence that this vampire was some what crazy was clear.

He leaned over the table and seemed like he was about to start what ever miracle work he had planned but instead he pointed a finger at Michael. "You, come here." Michael reluctantly stepped forward and at first Myrnin didn't say anything. Instead he handed him a pair of long thin pliers.

Michael just stood there with a confused look on his face before saying. "What the hell are these for?"

"Well don't just stand there!" Myrnin said clearly irritated. "Use them to pull the bullet out, I don't have time to do both!"

After giving the pliers another look Michael's eyes widened. The idea of jamming them through a hole in someone's back and picking through all the bone and muscle made him feel a little ill. Regardless of this he stepped toward the table, since he knew it was this or let the girl die. It was difficult to work on both her injuries at once since the bullet was in her back and the dart had hit her in the front. In the end they settled with laying her on her stomach and twisting her arm awkwardly so it rest to on the curve at the bottom of her spine.

As Michael began to push the pliers through the skin Myrnin grabbed a strange looking tourniquet and fastened it tightly around the girls shoulder.

"What's that for?" Eve asked as she peered around Michael.

"To stop the poisoned blood from spreading further into her body." Myrnin answered quickly. "So far it seems to have only spread as far as the veins in her shoulder and arm which is bad enough. If it were to spread to her bone marrow or internal organs- which it would very soon- then it would make it almost impossible to save her."

While Myrnin had been talking Michael had pushed the pliers a good few inches down and was well past the torn muscle that had made a sickening noise as the metal had dug through. Michael was also sure that at one point he'd felt the pliers tap against the side of a bone- possibly the edge of her shoulder blade. This thought was quickly made irrelevant though since soon after he found the tip of the pliers trying to push between two ribs- and that's where he found the bullet- wedged between the gap separating the two bones. He had to twist his hand a little- causing more tissue to tear and blood to seep out- to allow the metal tips to fit between the gap before he could squeeze the handle and grip the bullets round edge. When he was sure he had a firm hold he swiftly pulled the pliers out to reveal the small round piece of metal between them. Michael dropped it in a dish Myrnin had put on the side.

Now his job was done Michael could put his attention back on what Myrnin was doing. While Michael had been busy Myrnin had done quite a bit. All along the girls arm and the affected part of her shoulder Myrnin was fitting several tubes- all held in place by needles fitted directly into the darkened veins. When Myrnin was done fitting the last one he leaned back and said thoughtfully. "I hope she doesn't wake up anytime soon, otherwise this will be extremely painful."

"Why? What are you going to do?" Michael asked.

Myrnin looked over at them all. "The blood that has been infected by the wolf's bane is not saveable, it's dead. All it is now is a vessel in which the poison can move further through her body. So every drop must be drained using this." He pointed to the tubes and moved his arm along to the container they all connected to that looked like some kind of pump. "That means draining all the blood in her arm and shoulder which is worryingly close to her heart and not only could it kill the tissue around the damaged veins it will put tremendous strain on her circulatory system."

Myrnin turned to the container and begin pressing switches on its side. "This will pump it all out at once. While I'm handling this I will need your help again. Blondie, come here."

Michael frowned at his new name before moving forward once again. "What?"

"I need you to pump her heart for her while the blood is draining. Do it just like CPR but press harder than you would on a normal human and do faster compressions so it can keep up with the blood loss. I need clean blood to take the place of the poisoned blood as quickly as possible so the cells in her arm aren't damaged."

Michael nodded before gently untwisting the girls arm from her back and turning her over- making sure not to catch any of the tubes. He entwined his fingers and held his joined hands over her chest- ready for Myrnin's go ahead.

Once Myrnin knew Michael was ready he wrapped his hand around the tourniquet and as he swiftly ripped it away he pushed a button on the pump. Straight away Michael's hand pressed down on her chest cavity, with a lot more power than a paramedic would use on a regular human. If this was just a human there was no doubt that several of the surrounding ribs would have fractured. He pressed down again and again, so fast his hands were almost a blur. Near him he could hear the hum of the machine as it pulled the blood from her body. Already the tubes had a steady stream of murky blood running through them. Myrnin was right, the blood was nothing more than dead. As the veins got lighter as they emptied of blood so did her skin. At first the grey became just a pale white with a similarity to a pearl, then it seemed paler than the skin of the surrounding vampires, then it was grey again but darker than the first time. Everyone looked worried.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Shane asked.

Myrnin shook his head. "This was what I was worried about, she's too weak to fight it. The cells in her body are dying." For a moment he looked bleak but then his eyes suddenly widened- you could almost see the light bulb turn on above his head. Without a word he grabbed a syringe from the side, slid it into his wrist and drew out some of his own blood. Once he'd removed it from his arm he strode over the few steps to the table and drove the syringe deep into the girl's skin right where the dart had originally been. He pressed the plunger and his blood disappeared from the tube and into the empty vessels running beneath her dying flesh. Almost instantly the tissue around where the blood had been injected lost its grey tone. The effect seemed to please Myrnin. "There, I thought that would give her a boost."

It was right after this that the blood that Michael was still pumping began to reach the drained vessels and mix with Myrnin's blood, causing it to push further through her arm and bring even more parts of it some life. By then the machine had shut off and her blood was clean and it was a case of waiting to see if she would make a full recovery or at least any recovery at all.

Myrnin removed all the tubes from her now just pale arm and stepped back with Michael to stand with the others. They all waited curiously except for Amelie, who couldn't hold back her caution or wariness. At first there was nothing, no movement at all. But then there was, starting with the twitch of a finger, the slight tensing of a muscle, the flutter of an eyelid...


	5. Chapter 5

A few moments passed before both the girl's eyes opened. She stared up at the ceiling, confusion clear from the creases in her brow. Then her head twisted slightly and her eyes fixed on the group watching her just a few feet away. The three vampires among the group were the ones who caught her attention and their presence caused her to gasp before flipping herself off the table she still lay on to crouch on the floor in a defensive position.

Michael's eyes flicked towards the other two vampires that caused the girl's reaction. Myrnin looked fairly interested in the creature that crouched before him since she was something he had barely any knowledge on and Amelie looked like she was about to just break the girl's neck and be done with the drama. His inspection on the Ice Queen made Michael feel he needed to step in and quickly. So he moved slightly forward, just one small step, with his hands up as if in surrender. "We're not going to hurt you I swear."

As he separated himself from the group the girl reluctantly moved her attention slightly away from the others and focused on him. As soon as her eyes met his face a bemused expression crossed her features and she straightened up slightly. "You, you're the one who- you tried to help me."

Michael nodded. "Yeah I did and I still am."

"Why?"

"Because I'm not going to hurt someone that I have no reason to."

"But you're a vampire, like them." She pointed a finger a Myrnin and Amelie. "It's what you do."

Eve moved a step forward to stand beside Michael and put a hand on his arm. "That's what _some _do, he's different."

The girl was still unsure whether or not she should trust him though getting an opinion from a non vampire was a lot more encouraging. She stared at Michael and Eve a short while, looking into both their eyes to see if she could see anything trustworthy in them. Whatever she saw it worked, as she nodded at them both, hesitated for a moment, then directed her stare to the two vampires still standing silently behind them. "What about them?"

"Amelie won't hurt you as long as you don't hurt anyone in her town." Michael reassured her. "And Myrnin saved your life so I doubt he will hurt you either."

Being told that a vampire had saved her life seemed to shock her as her eyes widened. Once she'd recovered she looked more closely at Myrnin who to her surprise simply waved at her and said. "Hello my dear."

Incredibly, that seemed to do the trick as she lost the defensive position completely and stood looking totally bewildered instead. And at that moment Myrnin threw his hands in the air. "Ah you see, a little kindness is all it takes. After all this girl has been through this past week do you really think she will believe the whole 'I won't hurt you' line. Honestly!" Myrnin started to walk towards her and she took a wary step back. "Stop worrying I only want to examine you."

"I feel fine now." She tried to explain as he stepped in front of her and grabbed her hand. "I don't know what you did but I'm Ok. So I suppose I should say thanks."

She was trying to be friendly but as Myrnin turned her hand to the left then right he could feel her shaking anxiously under his grip. Being this close to a vampire made her feel uneasy. "Of course you do but I've never seen your kind before, this is a very interesting experience for me. And you're welcome my dear."

As Myrnin continued on Amelie finally spoke up with irritation clear in her voice. "Enough, we have things to discuss. You." She pointed a pale finger at the girl. "Who are you?"

"Erm... Claire."

"When I say that I don't mean I want to know your name I want to know what your purpose here is and why?" She replied icily.

Claire shrugged. "I don't have a purpose here, I was just passing through. I didn't even know about vampires until I got here."

"So you're here under total coincidence?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I just jumped in the back of a delivery truck in Dallas without finding out where it was going and this is where I ended up."

"Where are the rest of your kind? Your Parents?"

Again she shrugged. "I don't know anymore of my kind, I don't even know who my parents are. I was adopted by humans not long after I was born."

Myrnin glanced at Amelie. "Now, do you see Amelie? This girl is of no threat to you. She's alone with no intentions against anyone or this town."

Amelie's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're not lying?" Her stared fixed on Claire's face.

Claire sighed before responding. "Look, I get it, you don't like stuff you don't understand. But seriously, I rode into town with nothing but a backpack of clothes and a Twinkie. So if I have any diabolical plans I'm pretty sure they suck.

Michael, Shane and Eve had to stifle a laugh as Amelie tried to stare her down, unsure on how to respond. Finally though, she let out a resigned sigh. "Fine, it seems Myrnin was right. You are of no threat to us, for now. But I would like to keep an eye on you, until I feel completely certain of this. Therefore I would like you to stay in a Founders House." She paused for a moment as if she was thinking something over. Then she turned towards Michael. "In fact, since you were so set on saving her you can be the one to keep an eye on her, she will stay with you at the Glass House."

Suddenly, Eve jumped up in the air and pulled her hands from behind her back revealing crossed fingers. As she did her happy dance she began shouting in triumph. "Yes! I new it! I'm not going to be the only girl in the house anymore. Woo!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry to everyone for uploading this on wrong story, my only excuse is that I was being attacked by a moth when I was uploading it so I was a bit distracted... :/ Dont' worry succubus fans though because the real next chapter will be up within the week as I'm going to update before I go camping.**

The girl they now knew as Claire sat in the back of Michael's car with an uncomfortable look on her face. After a few more questions Amelie had allowed them to go back through the portal to the council building and out to the vampire sedan parked on the curb. As Michael started the engine Claire just stared out the tinted window with her chin rested on her hand. Shane, who was sat in the seat beside her and feeling awkward in the long silence leant slightly towards her and said jokingly. "You know there's really no point in looking out the window, it's not like anyone can see anything out of them."

Without looking at him Claire muttered. "I can."

_Der. _Shane thought to himself. _She's not human. She looks human though... except from when she goes all growls and claws. _He was right, when she wasn't in danger or feeling threatened she looked completely human, no pale skin or lack of body heat or anything. Shane took her reply as a hint to leave her alone for a while and instead went to annoying Eve by kicking the back of her chair.

The drive continued in quiet except for Eve and Shane's bickering. As Michael turned a corner his eyes glanced up at the rear view mirror and flickered towards Claire in the reflection. "Hey erm... Claire, you ok?"

Again she didn't look up as she replied. "You know when I jumped into the back of that truck in Dallas I never expected to be rounded up and dumped on random strangers. I'm sorry you got involved in this and left with me." She sounded almost bored.

As Eve threw something at Shane's head she turned around to look at Claire. "No way I'm glad, it's about time there was another girl in the house and besides we've been looking for someone to take the spare room for a while now."

"But I bet you were looking for someone a little more normal."

"Nope, we don't do normal. I mean look at us, the eighteen year old vampire, the goth princess and..." She waved a hand towards Shane and then frowned. "Well I'm not really sure what the hell he is but surely that makes my point."

Shane leaned forward again. "Ok, first." He pointed at Eve. "Bite me. Second, she's right normal doesn't suite us at all. I mean can you imagine what it would be like if we let a college kid rent the room? There would be a lot of explaining to do when they find bottles of blood in the fridge instead of beer."

Claire couldn't help but smile. "I guess you're right."

"We're _always _right." Eve said. "Now cheer up girl it's all fine. First things first, we need to get your stuff moved into your new room."

After Claire had told Amelie that she was staying in a hotel new the town borders Amelie said she would be checked out and her stuff would already be at the Glass House by the time they got there. Although Claire found that hard to believe she had to acknowledge that considering how unpopular she seemed she was getting fairly nice treatment.

"Yeah to be honest I don't have much stuff anyway. Just enough to last me about a weeks vacation."

"Why have you been going around on your own anyway? What happened to your adoptive parents?" Eve asked.

"My adoptive parents were your stereotypical deep southern family, aka over religious rednecks. When I realised what I was I hid it from them but they noticed I was a little different to their other kids so I was apparently evil. One wrong move and I had a belt buckle across the back of my legs, so I figured it was time to get out of there." Everyone looked sorry but Claire didn't seem to be too bothered by her past.

The last five minutes of the drive was back to being quiet but seemed to pass quickly and soon the car was pulled up on the curb again. Looking through the windows Claire knew immediately which house she would be staying in from now on because to her surprise on the doorstep of the one closest to her was her backpack.

The car engine stopped and the Glass House's usual military operation like way of getting to the front door began. Michael rushed out and stood guard by the front gate as Eve and Shane kicked open their car doors and ran for the porch. They both figured that Claire would follow their lead since she'd been in town long enough to understand the danger of being out at night but incredibly she just casually got out of the car and strolled up the pathway. As Eve unlocked the door Shane stared at Claire with an incredulous look on his face. "You know it's not safe to be just casually walking out at night."

"Strangely that's what the first vampire I ran into said. You know in that creepy vampire/pervert voice? That was before I kicked his ass of course."

"Which in turn almost got you killed." Michael pointed out as he walked through the door behind her.

She sees his point but doesn't reply and instead picks up her backpack ready to unpack it. But Eve takes it from her and dumps it in the corner. "You can unpack later. C'mon, come into the living room we can watch some TV."

As Eve leads her to the couch Shane heads unsurprisingly straight for the kitchen. "Well I don't know about anyone else but I'm starving. Everyone want some chilly? What about you Claire? You like chilly don't you? What do werewolves eat anyway?"

Claire looked up at the ceiling as if to think. "A lot of things really. Human livers really good but animal liver's just fine too."

Shane's face went pale as he stared at her. To his surprise Claire started laughing at him. "I'm kidding dumb ass. Chilly will do just fine thank you."

Jesus you scared the shit out of me then." The relief was clear on his face.

"Shouldn't ask such stupid questions."

"Well I didn't know! I mean Michael drinks blood so I just thought werewolves might have a freaky diet as well. You could eat people for all I know."

"Hmm, well clearly you don't know the difference between werewolves and zombies."

Shane was going to start an argument about how he knew lots about zombies because of his awesome high score on his game. Eve knew this which is why she decided to cut in. "Erm Shane, chilly?"

Shane disappeared in the kitchen then while muttering to himself. A full half an hour later- through which Eve, Claire and Michael had been watching a crappy drama- Shane reappeared with four bowls on a tray. He handed one to Claire and she dug in straight away. This was the first time since she got in town she'd eaten proper food and she had to admit it was delicious.

It was strange for Claire, she'd known these people for no more than a few hours and yet they accepted her like they'd known her for months. But their kindness towards her was quickly rubbing off on her and the uncomfortable feeling she'd had before was quickly fading. She liked these people already and she hoped they'd continue to like her.

Soon they'd all eaten their chilly and while the boys went to clean up Eve grabbed Claire by the hand and pulled her up the stairs to show her her room.


	7. Chapter 7

Eve opened the bedroom door and flicked on the light to reveal what would be Claire's new room. It was beyond any of the motels she'd been crashing in through the past few months with a four poster bed; a desk with a lamp; mahogany wardrobes and a bed side table.

"Well this is it." Eve said. "It's not much but I'm sure it will look great once you add some of your own touches."

"It's quite nice." Claire mumbled, still feeling like she was intruding.

Eve put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry you're going to fit in here just fine. I know I want you here and I'm sure the boys do too, ok?" She waited for Claire to nod. "Ok, I'll leave you to get settled in."

Eve closed the door on her way out and Claire was left in silence. She just stood there for a second- taking in her surroundings and situation- before letting out a sigh and grabbing her bag. She opened it and began dumping its content on the bed. Soon the bed had a few sets of clothing and a candy bar spread out on it. Looking at the clothing she shook her head- seeing how pitiful it was to have so little possessions. On the bright side she did remember one thing in her bag that could change that and smiled as she dug it out of one of the pockets. Her smile continued as she held up the huge pile of cash held together by an elastic band. The last gift from the parents she'd never had the chance to know.

Feeling a little better she put the money back before walking over to the window. She looked out- away from the town around her and up at the sky. The moon was out, shining a soft barely noticeable yet reassuring light on her as she stared at it. It wasn't quite a full moon but it was still large enough that the feel of its influence on her was strong. Closing her eyes she let its power lull her into a relaxing trance. Through this time her mind wondered through the last few months, avoiding all the bad moments and concentrating on the few moments that had given her the strength to keep going.

After just a couple of minutes she snapped out of it but for some reason was left feeling uneasy. As her mind quickly began to clear she soon realised why. Someone was in the room with her, right behind her in fact. The sudden realisation didn't settle well with her as she felt like she'd been snuck up on. She instantly thought it was a vampire which made her naturally want to react in a not so friendly way.

As her eyes flashed yellow and her claws grew from the tips of her fingers she spun around and lifted her hand to slash at her assumed attacker. Her eyes caught sight of who had scared her and she realised that it was the boy she now knew as she. His eyes widened at her looking like she was about to kill him but luckily she stopped herself.

She gasped and fell back against the wall as tears welled in her eyes at the shock of the fact that she could have killed him. "I'm- I'm so sorry."

Although still shocked Shane seemed fine. "It's ok, it wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that."

Claire shook her head frantically. "No it's not ok. I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be around people at all. I need to leave."

She tried to move around him- planning to run from the house- but he stepped in her way and tried to calm her down. "It's fine really, you didn't do anything."

"But at some point I might, I can't just react like that every time I get caught off guard."

"I'm not surprised you reacted like that after everything you've been through and besides it better if you do react like that in this town. I bet it will save your life more than once." Shane tried to point out.

"But it could also endanger someone else's."

"You won't. Once you're settled in and have gotten used to everything you'll be fine. We'll help you."

Claire did feel better, especially at the prospect of having people beside her helping her instead of being alone trying to deal with things she didn't understand like before. After a moment she managed to calm her breathing and stop crying.

"Are you Ok now?" Shane asked.

Claire just nodded in response. After this neither of them seemed to want to say anything and instead they just stared at each other. Finally they both snapped out of it with confused looks on their faces. Shane was the first to speak again as he held something up in his hands that Claire hadn't noticed before. "Eve asked me to bring you these. It's some of her old clothes, there not really her style anymore so she wants you to have them."

"Is she sure?" Claire asked as she took the pile from Shane.

"Absolutely, I doubt she'll ever wear anything this colourful again anyway."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it."

"Thank Goth Princess not me." Shane replied as he turned to leave.

"No I mean for everything."

Shane turned his head as he reached the door. "Anytime... and I'm sorry by the way, about your parents I mean. I know how you feel."

Claire just smiled gratefully- unsure of how she should reply.


	8. Chapter 8

After a bit of time just alone in the quiet Claire finally decided that she should go downstairs. She left her room and after walking down the hall she made her way down the stairs- one step at a time- still feeling nervous and a little uncomfortable with living with strangers- even if they were more than welcoming.

Once she reached the bottom she looked around the living room for her new room mates. She only saw one-Michael- who was sitting in a chair alone. As she listened she could hear that Eve and Shane were in the kitchen, from what she could tell they were cleaning up and bickering.

She looked back at Michael who was still sat in silence. He hadn't reacted to her entering the room but she knew that he knew she was there- after all he was a vampire. Vampire. The thought made her chuckle inside but also frown on the outside. Just a few hours before vampires had been trying to kill her and now she was living with one. She wasn't afraid of him anymore though, just curious. She could sense he wasn't an old one, in fact just by the way he acted told her he was less experienced in this dark corner of the world than most. Yet to her he seemed to deal with it easily.

She took a few steps towards him. "How do you do it?"

Michael turned his head to look at her with a confused look etched on his face. "Do what?"

She waved her arms around her. "All this- living with humans and just being so normal- you make it look so easy."

"Do I?" Michael replied as a sad smile twitched onto his lips. "I must be a good actor."

Claire shook her head. "It seems to me like you're doing ok."

"Some days are better than others. You don't have to stand all the way over there you know. I'm not going to hurt you."

Claire smiled as she sat on the couch across from him. Once she was sat down she continued. "I just don't understand how you keep so under control all the time. I mean with me the slightest thing happens and I freak out or overreact."

"You mean like what happened with Shane earlier?"

Claire couldn't help looking away from Michael when she realised what he meant.

"Don't feel ashamed, after all I'm pretty sure I've done much worse than you. I mean what happened when you started to change or whatever?"

Claire shrugged. "I got really edgy all the time. I had to run from people when my eyes randomly started changing colour... and the worst thing, when my adoptive parents started to beat me I'd just see red and the urge to just break their necks was so strong that-" She took a deep breath before continuing "- I used to have to keep telling myself that I deserved it to hold off the urge."

Michael leaned forward with a sad look on his face. "That's some strength you've got there. Seriously I don't know what you're worried about. You did better than me that's for sure. Do you know what happened to me when I was first turned?"

Claire shook her head.

"I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was Eve and Shane, only I didn't see them as friends I saw them as food. The first thing I did was try to attack my own friends and if there hadn't been anyone else there I probably would have succeeded."

"But that was bound to happen, you were completely new to it." Claire tried to argue in his favour as she could see from the look in his eyes that it tormented him. "I'm sure it was the same for all of the other vampires, the only difference is you were probably the only one who felt any remorse afterwards."

"You don't have to try and make me feel better you know." Michael answered.

"Someone has to." Claire replied. "Because you clearly don't give yourself enough credit."

Michael couldn't help shaking in head as he laughed. "Maybe." After a moment of silence as he thought through what she'd said he couldn't help feel curious about what kind of life she'd had so far to make her such a smart and obviously compassionate person. "How did you manage all this time anyway? With not really knowing what you were and having no help from anyone."

Claire looked down again. "Do you really want to know? It's pretty pathetic to be honest."

"I doubt that."

She looked up and into Michael's eyes. "Music, that's it. When all the yelling and screaming started and the urge to just lash out with the eyes and claws the only thing that kept the truth hidden was hiding in my room and blocking it out with music."

Michael didn't reply. Instead he grinned before getting to his feet and dashing across the room.

"What are you doing?" Claire called as he flashed by her.

He reappeared in his chair a second later but was this time holding a guitar. He moved his fingers over the strings before saying. "So if something were to happen that got you all tensed up and ready to lash out would this help?" He ran his fingers over the strings and played three notes before looking up at Claire again with a smile.

Claire giggled. "It might."

"Let's see then shall we."

Michael began to play a soft melody on the guitar. Claire didn't recognise it and figured he'd written it himself but that didn't matter because never the less the sound soothed her ears and calmed her usually chaotic mind. The longer he played the more Claire sank back into the couch and after only a few minutes her eyes began to close. When the song came to an end Michael stopped and listened. Her breathing was steady and so was her heart beat. Not only was she fast asleep but for the first time she wasn't worried or scared...

Well that was until the sound of a smashing window rang through the house along with an intimidating voice.

"Bring us the girl now."


End file.
